It is well known during manufacturing operations to consolidate articles and objects of various kinds into rows and also to divert objects in a row to disassemble the row to either provide a plurality of rows of objects or to terminate the row configuration in its entirety. A number of approaches have been devised and operated in the prior art to perform these various operations depending of course on the requirements of the manufacturing system or scheme being serviced.
The present apparatus is for the purpose of conveying articles and while carrying out the conveying operation forming a plurality of rows of articles from a single row thereof. As indicated above, apparatus for accomplishing this objective generally is known in the prior art; however, such devices are often characterized by their relative complexity and considerable expense. Furthermore, a lack of reliability and uniformity of operation can occur, particularly with respect to mechanisms which are highly complex with the structural elements prone to going out of adjustment if a strict maintenance regimen is not adhered to.
The following U.S. patents were located in a search directed to this invention and the devices disclosed therein are believed to be representative of the current state of the prior art relating to the field of this invention: U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,942, issued Nov. 22, 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,165, issued Nov. 29, 1977, U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,862, issued Jul. 5, 1977, U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,717, issued Jul. 6, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,044, issued Mar. 7, 1972, U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,733, issued Jan. 11, 1972, U.S. Pat. No. 3,139,965, issued Jul. 7, 1964, U.S. Pat. No. 2,692,713, issued Oct. 26, 1954, U.S. Pat. No. 1,326,903, issued Jan. 6, 1920, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,236,391, issued Aug. 14, 1917.